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MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA 111 
superlative bloodthirstiness, he at any rate kills instinctively 
more than he can possibly require for his support. I know not 
where to find a parallel among the larger Carnivora. Yetonce 
more, which one of the larger animals will defend itself or its 
young at such enormous odds? A glance at the physiognomy 
of the Weasels would suffice to betray their character. The 
teeth are almost of the highest known raptorial character; the 
jaws are worked by enormous masses of muscles covering all 
the side of the skull. The forehead is low, and the nose is 
sharp; the eyes are smail, penetrating, cunning; and glitter 
with an angry green light. There is something peculiar, more- 
over, in the way that this fieree face surmounts a body extraor- 
dinarily wiry, lithe, and muscular. It ends a remarkably long 
and slender neck in such way that it may be held at right 
angle with the axis of the latter. When the creature is glan- 
cing around, with the neck stretched up, and flat triangular 
head bent forward, swaying from one side to the other, we 
catch the likeness in a moment—it is the image of a serpent. 
In further illustration of the character of the Stoat, I con- 
tinue with an extract from Audubon, which represents nearly 
all that has appeared to the point in this country:— 
“Graceful in form, rapid in his movements, and of untiring 
industry, he is withal a brave and fearless little fellow; con- 
- scious of security within the windings of his retreat among the 
logs, or heap of stones, he permits us to approach him within 
a few feet, then suddenly withdraws his head; we remain still 
for a moment, and he once more returns to his post of observa- 
tion, watching curiously our every motion; seeming willing to 
claim association so long as we abstain from becoming his per- 
secutor. 
“Yet with all these external attractions, this little Weasel 
is fierce and bloodthirsty, possessing an intuitive propensity 
to destroy every animal and bird within its reach, some of 
which, such as the American rabbit, the ruffed grouse and 
domestic fowl, are ten times its own size. It is a notorious 
and hated depredator of the poultry house, and we have 
known forty well-grown fowls to have been killed in one 
night by a single Ermine. Satiated with the blood of proba- 
bly a single fowl, the rest, like the flock slaughtered by the 
wolf in the sheepfold, were destroyed in obedience to a law of 
nature, an instinctive propensity to kill. We have traced the 
footsteps of this bloodsucking little animal on the snow, pur- 
suing the trail of the American rabbit, and although it could 
